Circular-knitting machine



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UIRGULAB-FLNITTING MACHINE.

Application filed February 1'2, 192?.

W same number of cam races or positions on the pattern drums or other revolving pattern means.

In the modern seamless hosiery machine there area large number of parts and atm tachments on theknit-ting head, and the space available in the knitting head for the yarn fingers and forthe thrust rods which operate those yarn fingers and other attachments is very limited, and the dimensions are well ll standardized. According to the present in All Ali

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vention the number of thrust rods available to cause the movementsof the yarn fingers and the operation of the other attachments is increased without in any way changing the amount of space occupied by the yarn fingers or the guide plates or other elements associated with the thrust rods. In addition the same number of cam positions heretofore used is made to operate the increased number of thrust rods and to give them varied movements.

llhe invention will be shown and described embodied in the well known Scott & l Villiams type of seamless hosiery machine (such, for instance as that shown and described in the patent to Robert W. Scott, No. 1,236,770, dated Aug. 14th, 1917) with revolving needle cylinder, but it should be understood that the invention is not limited to that type. Certain features of construction of the sinker control disclosed in this application and not herein claimed form the subject matter of an application by Albert E. Page and Frank R. Page filed September 17, 1926, her. NO. 136,131.

lln the drawings:

Figure l is a side elevation of, mechanism operating the yarn fingers according to the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of a portion of the main pattern drum and two thrust rods;

Fig. 3 is a lan view illustrating the mechanism adapted to operate two thrust rods at Serial No. 168,979.

Fig. 5 is aperspective of a portion of a sinker cap, showing two pairs of thrust rods operating two movable sinker cams;

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view of the slnker cap showing a throw-in cam lifted out of action;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 showing the throw-in cam pushed half way in by one of the thrust rods; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view of the sinker cap showing the throw-in cam held all the way in; by the other thrust rod. In the machine shown in the drawings there is the usual intermittently racked main pattern'drum 120 and an auxiliary or striping drum 20. The main pattern drum constitutes pattern means revolving once for every stocking knit and carries cams 501 for opcrating thrust rods in the ordinary mannerl There are a plurality of yarn fingers F each separately controlled by a thrust rod 460 or 460". Alongside these thrust rods there are other thrust rods 461 and 461 adapted to control other pattern movements in the knitting head, such for instance as the manipulatin of cams in the sinker cap 300 (Fig. 5). 'l e whole series of thrust rods is guided ver tically by a lower comb or sley A51 mounted on a stationary stud 450, and by an upper comb 462.

Heretofore each thrust rod has passed through and filled a separate slot in the upper comb and a separate slot 452 in the lower comb A51. The lower end of each thrust rod rested on a separate cam 501 on the main pattern drum 120. With such a construction the maximum number of thrust rods was very limited, because of the necessarily restricted space available in the knitting head for their accommodation. lln the machine shown in the drawings the thrust rods are half as thick as heretofore and the number of thrust rods operable within the available space is therefore increased. Two thrust rods are passed through one slot in the combs and thus it is possible to employ a greater number of yarn lingers in the standard sized throat (not Shown). By using thinner thrust rods and till till) lltltl ltltt placing two of them in the space formerly occupied by one, it is possible to double the number of thrust rods and hence the number of movements transmitted to the yarn fingers manipulating them. The two thrust rods passing through a single opening in the comb are both lifted and lowered by the same drum cam 501 thus economizing space on the main pattern drum.

When the machine is making striped fabric the thrust rods are manipulated from the auxiliary drum 20 by means adapted to move each individual thrustrod separately. There results a corresponding increase in the total number of thrust rod movements available. One embodiment of these means is shown in Figs. 1 and 2 where the thrust rods 460 and 460* have notches in their edges on the side nearest to the auxiliary pattern drum 20. These thrust rods are operated from the auxiliary pattern drum 20 through the action of cams 22 in two cam races or positions thereon, which actuate bell crank levers 17, whose upper arms engage the notches in the thrust rods. Each'of the thrust rods 460 and 460 is thus operated byan individual bell crank lever.

It has been discovered, however, that a pair of thrust rods can be operated separatelyor both together and one separately from a single cam race on the auxiliary drum 20. This is accomplished by cutting the notch of the thrust rod 461 higher than the notch a of the thrust rods 461 and using 'a low cam 22 to lift the thrust rod 461 and a high cam 22 on the same cam race to operate thrust rods 461 (Figs. 3 and 4). By this means the two thrust rods will be lifted and lowered successively as the lower arm of the single bell crank lever rides up or down the successive elevations of the drum cams 22 and 22*. When the bell crank lever rides up onto the cam 22 the thrust rod 461 alone will be lifted. As the bell crank lever rides up on the cam 22 its upper arm engages the notch I) in the thrust rod 461", and elevates both thrust rods from that point together.

As many movements desired in knitting ma-- chinery are successive movements, the fact that the thrust rod 461 is raised higher by cam 22 is no disadvantage. One of the uses of the increased capacity of the machine is illustrated in Figs. 5, 6, 7 and 8, in which the cams 325 and 329 on a sinker cam cap 300 are each manipulated by a pair of thrust rods consisting of a thrust rod 461and a thrust rod 461. The sinker cam 325 is attached to the under side of a flat spring 327 and this spring 327 and the secondary sinker cam 329 wh-ich itself is a fiat spring -are each attached at their non-operating end to the top of the cam cap 300. The upper end of each thrust rod 461 has a shoulder overlying the free end of the spring 325 or the cam 329 as the case may be and the upper end of each thrust rod 461 forming the other member of a pair not only has a shoulder overlying the spring 325 or the cam 329 in a similar manner, but also has a downwardly directed foot overlying the cam cap 300 but not the spring 325. The notches a and Z) in the sides of the two thrust rods are so located that when both thrust rods are resting on the surface of the main pattern drum and the bell crank lever is on the surface of the auxiliary drum, the sinker cam is held in its lowermost position by the thrust rod 461. The thrust rods 461 and 461 may be held down by any known or convenient means. For instance, I may employ springs 333 such as those illustrated in Patent No. 1,282,958 granted to Robert W. Scott on October, 29th, 1918. Each of these springs may have one end connected with a thrust rod and the other end attached. to the plate 451. Such an arrangement is illustrated by way of example in Fig. 4. When the bell crank lever meets the drum cam 22 it lifts the thrust rod 461- and the sinker cam rises until held by the thrust rod 461*, whose foot is rest-ing on the cam cap 300. These sinker cams 325 and 329 act on the operating butts of the sinkers as shown and described in the co-pending application of Albert E. Page and Frank R. Page, Serial No. 136,141, filed September 17th, 1926. In the illustration given, the thrust rod 461 is first elevated, allowing the flat spring 327 to rise up under the shoulder of the thrust rod 461", thus raising the cam 325 from the position shown in Fig. 8 to its intermediate position illustrated in Fig. 7 A further movement of the auxiliary pattern drum 20 causes the bell crank lever to ride up on cam 22" and to engage and lift the thrust rod 461". This permits the spring 327 to lift the cam 325 to its uppermost position as illustrated in Fig. 6. Further turning of the auxiliary pattern drum 20 will cause the end of the bell crank lever 17 to ride down off of the cam 22", thus drop ing both thrust rods to an intermediate position where the thrust rod 461 depresses the spring 327 to this intermediate position as regulated by the foot upon the thrust rod.

lit will be obvious that this invention may be applied to many other uses than the operation of sinker cams.

With the understanding that the description and illustrations herein are employed merely by way of example,

ll claim:

1. In a knitting machine a pattern drum and a slotted comb, in combination with a plurality of thrust rods operated simultaneously by said pattern drum and passing through a single slot in said comb and other means adapted to operate both thrust rods and one thrust rod separately.

2. In a knitting machine a pattern drum, a plurality of thrust rods, a single cam on dll Elli

aaaaaao said pattern drum adapted to operate said plurality of thrust rods simultaneously, in combination with a slotted comb through one of whose slots said. plurality of thrust rods pass and means adapted to operate both thrust rods and one thrust rod separately,

3. in a knitting machine revolving pattern means, an auxiliary pattern drum, a slotted comb, and a pair of thrust rods adapted to pass through one ol the slots in said comb, in combination with one cam on said main pattern drum adapted to control said pair of thrust rods, and means controlled from said auxiliary pattern drum adapted to move said thrust rods separately.

d, In a lrnitting machine revolving pattern means, an auxiliary ttern drum, a slotted comb, a ir oi thrust rods passing through one slot in said comb, and one cam on said revolving pattern means adapted to control said pair of thrust rods, said thrust rods having notches in the sides thereof the notch in one thrust rod being higher than that in the other, in combination with a hell crank lever adapted to be controlled lrom said auxiliary pattern drum engagin in said notches to raise first one and then hoth oi said thrust rods.

5. in a lrnitting machine a pair oi thrust rods each having a notch in the side thereof,

revolving pattern means, and cams on said pattern means, in combination with a single bell crank lever operated from said revolving pattern means and adap to raise first one and then both of said thrust rods by successive movements.

6. in a lrnitti machine a pair of thrust rods each having a notch in its side, said notches being at difi'erent elevations, revolving patte means, cams of two heights on said revolving pattern means and a single hell crank lever actuated by said s ol two heights adapted to raise the thrust rods by successive movements.

7. ln a circular mitting machine, a main pattern drum, anauxiliary pattern drum, n

pair oi thrust rods, one cam on said main pattern adapted to control said oil thrust rode, a comb through one at whose slots said pair oil tst rods passes, means controlled from said auxiliary pattern drum adapted to raise one oil said thrust rods by one movement and both oil said thrust rode on a lurther movement, in combination with vertically movable cams for lmitting elements, the limits at whose upward move melnts are controlled by said pair o'lE thrust ro s,

8, la a lrnitting machine a main pattern d, an auxiliary pattern drum, comb, a pair oil? thrust rods passing through one oi the slots in said comb, said thrust rods having slots in their sides at difilerent elevations, one on said main pattern drum adapted to control said pair olt thrust rods, earns at two heights on one cam position of said auxiliary drum, means-controlled by said auxil iary drum cams to raise one thrust rod when actuated by the low cam and the other thrust rod when actuated by the high in combination with a stationary external sinlrer llll cam cap and a vertically movable cam in said cam cap, said vertically movable cam having a spring mounted on said cam ring tending to hold said vertically movable cam in its uppermost position, said pair ol? t rods controlling the position oil said cam,

9.. ln a lrnitting machine, a pattern drum, a plurality of cams on sa d pattern drum, a comb havin slots therein, and thrustrods each passing t rough and filling one slot and each operated by one at said cams, in combination with a pair oi thrust rods passing through one oi said slots and operated by one of said cams, and means adapted to actuate said pair of thrust rods and adapted to hit one o'l said pair separately.

in testimony whereof l have r name to this specification.

' ALBERT l PAGE.

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